iny mind. Pucel. Question, my lords, no further of the case, Whose glory fills the world with loud report. Wulturn into a peaceful comic sport, of men Talbot'! they.Hoy, leuring their clothes behind. Yet hath a woman's kindness over-tud: . I'll be so bold to take what they have lett. 10 And therefore tell her, I return great thanks; The cry of Talbot serves me for a sword; And in subinission will attend on her.- Will not your honours bear me company? Ind I have heard it said, -Unbidden guests 15 are often welcomest when they are gone. Tui. Well then, alone, since there's noremedy, [Exeunt. SCENE III. The Countess of Auvergne's Castle. Port. Madam, I will. [Erit. What ruin happen'd in revenge of him, Count. The plot is laid: ifallthings fall out right, 30 I shall as famous be by this exploit, Great is the rumour of this dreadful knight, And his achievements of no less account: Enter Messenger, and Talbot. Mess. Madam,accordingasyourladyshipdesir'd, Bed. "Tis thought, lord Talbot, when the night 10 Mess. Madam, it is. Bur. Myself (as far as I could weil discern, I see, report is fabulous and false : vapours of the night) +5 I thought, I should have seen soie Hercules, Am sure, I scar’d the Dauphin, and his trull; A second Hector, for his grim aspect, Alas! this is a child, a silly dwart : 150 Should strike such terror to his enemies. Tul. Madam, I have been bold to trouble you: But, since your ladyship is not at leisure, To know the cause of your abrupt departure. . The virtuous lady, countess of Auvergne, Tal. Marry, for that she's in a wrong belief, With modesty admiring thy renown, go to certify her, Talbot's here. Count. If thoy be he, then art thou prisoner. . This alludes to a popular tradition, that the French women, to affray their children, would tel? Count. Count. To me, blood-thirsty lord; Dare no man answer in a case of truth? And for that cause I train'd thec to my house. Suf. Within the Temple-hall we were too loud; Long time thy shadow hath been thrall to me, The garden here is more convenient. [truth; For in my gallery thy picture hangs: Plant. Then say at once, if I maintain'd the (turn to moan. 10 F'er pitch, Count. Laughest thou, wretch thy mirth shall War. Between two hawks, which flies the higli Tal. I laugh to see your ladyship so fond ', Between two dogs, which hath the deeper mouth, Tothink thatyou have ought huiTalbot's shadow, Betweentu oblades,whichbearsthebettertemper, Whereon to practise your severity. Between two horses, which doth bear him best, Count. Why, art not thou the man? 15 Between two girls, which hath the merriest eye, Tal. I am, indeed. I have, perhaps, some shallow spirit of judgment: Count. Then have I substance too. But in these nice sharp quillets of the law, Tal. No, no, I am but shadow of myself: Good faith, I am no wiser than a daw. You are deceiv'd, my substance is not here; Plant. Tut, tut, here is a mannerly forbearance: For what you see is but the smallest part 20 The truth appears so naked on my side, And least proportion of humanity: That any purblind eye may find it out. I tell you, madam, were the whole frame here; Som. And on my side it is so well apparell’d, It is of such a spacious lofty pitch, So clear, so shining, and so evident, Your roof were not sufficient to contain it. That it will glimmer through a blind man's eye. Count. This isariddling? merchantforthenonce;/25 Plant. Since you are tongue-ty'd, and so loth He will be here, and yet he is not here: to speak, How can these contrarieties agree? In dumb significants proclaim your thoughts: Tal. 'I hat will I shew you presently. Let him, that is a true-born gentleman, Windshishorn;drums strike up: apcal of ordnance. And stands upon the honour of his birth, Enter Soldiers. 30 If he suppose that I have pleaded truth, How say you, madam? are you now persuaded, From off this briar pluck a white rose with mes. That Talbot is but shadow of himself? Som. Let him that is no coward, nor no flatterer, These arehis substance,sinews,arms,andstrength, But dare maintain the party of the truth, With which he yoketh your rebellious necks; Pluck a red rose from off this thorn with me. Razeth your cities, and subverts your towns, 35 War. I love no colours 4; and, without all colour And in a moment makes them desolate. Of base insinuating flattery, Count. Victorious Talbot! pardon my abuse: I pluck this white rose, with Plantagenet. I find thou art no less than fame hath bruited, Suf. I pluck this red rose, with young Somerset; And more than may be gather'd by thy shape. And say withal, I think he held the right. Let my presumption not provoke thy wrath; 40 Ver. Stay, lords, and gentlemen; and pluck For I am sorry, that with reverence no more, I did not entertain thee as thou art. 'Till you conclude that he, upon whose side Tal. Benot dismay'd,fair lady; nor misconstrue The fewest roses are cropt from the tree, The mind of Talbot, as you did mistake Shall yield the other in the right opinion. The outward composition of his body. |45Som. Good master Vernon, it is well objecteds; What you have done, hath not offended me : If I have fewest, I subscribe in silence. Nor other satisfaction do I crave, Plant. And I. And fall on my side so against your will. Ver. If I, my lord, for my opinion bleed, Law. Unless my study and my books be false, 'i.e. so foolish. 2 The term merchant, which was, and now is, frequently applied to the lowest sort of dealers, seems anciently to have been used on familiar occasions in contradistinction to gentleman; signifying, that the person shewed by his behaviour he was a low fellow. The word chap, i.e.chapman, a word of the same import with merchant, in its less respectable sense, is still in common use, particularly in Staffordshire, and the adjoining counties, as a common denomination for any person of whom they mean to speak with freedom or disrespect. 3 The rose (as the fables say) was the symbol of silence, and consecrated by Cupid to Harpocrates, to conceal the lewd pranks of his mother. Celours is here used ambiguously for tints and deceits. s i.e. it is justly proposed, The The argument you held, was wrong in you; Som. Ay, thou shalt find us ready for thee still: (10 Somerset. And know us, by these colours, for thy foes; . Now, Somerset, where is your argument: Plant. And, by my soul, this pale and angry rose, . Meantime your cheeks do counterteitour Until it wither with me to my grave, Suf. Go forward, and be choak'd with thyamSom. No, Plantagenet, 10 And so farewell, until I meet thee next. (Exit. 'Tis not for fear; but anger-that thy cheeks Som. Have with thee, Poole.--Farewell, ambiBlush for pure shame, to counterfeit our roses; tious Richard. [Exit. And yet thy tongue will not confess thy error. Plant. How I am brav'd, and must perforce eaPlant. Hath not thy rose a canker, Somerset : dure it! [house, Callid for the truce of Winchester and Gloster: , I'll find friends to wear my bleed I will not live to be accounted Warwick. 20 Mean time, in signal of my love to thee, Plant. Good masterVernon, I am bound to you, Come, let us four to dinner: I dare say, SCENE V. A Room in the Tower. So fare my limbs with long imprisonment: 45 These eyes--like lamps whose wasting oil isspent-- Weak shoulders,over-bornewithburtlı’ning grief; , 150 Yet are these feet--whose strengthless stay is I'll note you in my book of memory, Unable to support this lump of clay, [numb, By fashion is meant the badge of the red rose, which Somerset says he and his friends should be dis- Mr. Edwards observes, that Shakspeare has varied from the truth of history, to introduce this scene between Mortimer and Richard Plantagenet. Edmund Mortimerserved under Henry V. in 1429, and died unconfined in Ireland in 1424. °Holinshed says, that Mortimer was one of the moumers at the funeral of Henry V. Mr. Steevens adds, that his uncle, Sir John Mortimer, was indeed prisoner in the Tower, and was executed not long before the earl of March's death, being charged with an attempt to make his escape in order to stir up an insurrection in Wales," i.e. the beralds that, forerunning death, proclaiın its approach. i. e, end. Bat 1 4 come. But tell me, keeper, will my nephew come? I was the next by birth and parentage ; Succeeding his father Bolingbroke, did reign, But now, the arbitrator of despairs, Thy father, earl of Cambridge,--then deriv'd Just death, kind umpire' of men's miseries, From famous Edınund Langley, duke of York,– With sweet enlargement doth dismiss me hence: Marrying my sister, that thy mother was, I would, his troubles likewise were expir’d, 15 Again, in pity of my hard distress, That so he might recover what was lost. Levied an ariny; weening to redeem, Enter Richard Plantagenet. Ind have install'd me in the diadem: Keep. My lord, your loving nephew now is But, as the rest, so fell that noble earl, [cone? And was beheaded. Thus the Mortimers, Nor. Richard Plantagenet, my friend is he20 In whom the title rested, were suppress'd. Plant. Ay, noble uncle, thus ignobly us’d, Plant. Ofwhich, my lord, your honour is the last. Your nephew, late-despised Richard, comes. Mor. True; and thou seest, that I no issue have; Alor.Direct mine arms,Iinay embrace his neck, And that my fainting words do warrant death: And in his bosom spend my latter gasp : Thou art my heir; the rest I wish thee gather * Oh, tell me, when my lips do touch his cheeks, 25 But yet be wary in thy studious care. [me: That I may kindly give one fainting kiss.- Plant. Thy grave admonishments prevail with And now declarc, sweet stem from York's great But yet, methinks, my father's execution stock, Was nothing less than bloody tyranny, Why didst thou say—of late thon wert despis'd? Mor. With silence, nephew, be thou politick; Plant. First, leanthine aged back against mine 30 Strong fixed is the house of Lancaster, And, in that ease, I'll tell thee my disease?. [arm; And, like a mountain, not to be remov’d. This day, in argument upon a case, But now thy uncle is removing hence; Some words there grew 'twixt Somerset and me: As princes do their courts when they are cloy'd Ainong which terms, he us’d his lavish tongue, With long continuance in a settled place. [years And did upbraid me with my father's death; 35 Plant. O, uncle, would some part of my young Which obloquy set bars before my tongue, Might but redeem the passage of your age! Else with the like I had requited him: Aior, Thou dost then wrong ine; as the slaughTherefore, good uncle--for my father's sake, t'rer doth, In honour of a true Plantagenet, Which giveth many wounds, when one will kill, And for alliance' sake,-declare the cause 40 Mourn not, except thou sorrow for my good; My father, earl of Cambridge, lost his head. [me, Only, give order for my funeral ; Alor. That cause, fair nephew, that imprison'd And so farewell; and fair : be all thy hopes ! And hath detain’d ine, all my flow'ring youth, And prosperousbethylife,in peace,andwar! [Dies. Within a loathsome dungeon, there to pine, Plan. And peace, no war, befallthy parting soul! Was cursed instrument of his decease. (was : 45 In prison hast thou spent a pilgrimage, Plant. Discover more at large what cause that And like a hermit over-pass'd thy days. For I ain ignorant, and cannot guess. Well, I will lock his counsel in my breast; Mor. I will; if that iny fading breath permit, And what I do imagine, let that rest.And death approach not ere my tale be done. Keepers, convey him hence; and I myself Henry the fourth, grandfather to this king, 150 Will see his burial better than his life.--Depos’d his nephew Richard ; Edward's son, Ilere dies the dusky torch of Mortimer, The first-begotten, and the lawful heir Choak'd with ambition of the meaner sort : Of Edward king, the third of that descent; And, for those wrongs, those bitter injuries, During whose reign, the Percies of the north, Which Somerset hath offer'd to my house, Finding his usurpation most unjust, 55 I doubt not, but with honour to redress : Endeavour'd my advancement to the throne : And therefore haste I to the parliament ; The reason mov'd these warlike lords to this, Either to be restored to my blood, Was-for that(young king Richard thus remov'd, Or make my ill the advantage of my good. Leaving no heir begotten of his body) [E.cit. :. That is, he that terminates or concludes misery. ?i.e. my uneasiness or discontent. 'i.e, high, • The sense is, I acknowledge thee to be my heir; the consequences which may be collected from thence, I recommend it to thee to draw. Si.e. lucky or prosperous. • We are to understand the speaker as reflecting on the ill förtune of Mortimer, in being always made a tool of by the Percies of the north in their rebellious intrigues ; rather than in asserting his claim to the crown, in support of his own princely ambition. ACT SCENE I. Glo. Thou art reverent Touching thy spiritual function, not tliy life. ll'int. Rome sball remedy this. Flourish. Enter King Henry, E.reter, Gloster, War. " Roam thither then. Winchester, Warwick, Somerset, Suffolk, and Som, My lord, it were your duty to forbear. Richard Plantagenet. Gloster offers to put up Wur. Ay, see the bishop be not over-borne. a Bill; Winchester snatches it, and tears it. Som. Methinks, my lord should be religious, Hiin. COM’ST thou with deep premeditated And know the office that belongs to such. War. Methinks, hislordship should be humbler; Is not his grace protector to the king? Rich. Plantagenet, I see, must hold his tongue; should; Glo. Presumptuous priest! this place coin líust your bold verdict enter talk with lords? mands my patience, Else would I have a fling at Winchester. [Aside. 20 1 would prevail, if prayers might prevail, To join your hearts in love and amity. Oh, what a scandal is it to our crown, 125 Civil dissention is a viperous worm, That gnaws the bowels of the common-wealth. Froward by nature, enemy to peace; [ A noise within ; Down with the tawny coats! War. An uproar, I dare warrant, [A noise again, Stones! Stones! Pity the city of London, pity us! [Henry, Forbidden late to carry any weapon, Jand, banding themselves in contrary parts, Do pelt so fast at one another's pate, Our windows are broke down in every street, And we, for fear, compelld to shut our shops. Enter men in skirmish, with bloody pates. Pray, uncle Gloster, mitigate this strife. [peace. Skirmish again. Glo. You of my household, leave this peevish Thou bastard of my gtandfather! And set this unaccustom'd' fight aside. {broil, 55 Inferior to none, but to his majesty: So kind a father of the common-weal, To be disgraced by an inkhorn mate', We, and our wives, and children, all will fight, Roam to Rome. To roam is supposed to be derived from the cant of vagabonds, who often pretended a pilgrimage to Rome. i. e. unseemly, indecent. i. e. a bookmar. And مواد Glo. As good? God. ise high ted from stand that Percia 1 support ACT |